“Then we who are alive … will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thes. 4:17).
What’s the most outrageous Nick Cage movie you’ve seen? Switching faces with a villain? Stealing the Declaration of Independence? How about breaking into Alcatraz to stop a terrorist? He’s had some strange ones, but the premise of his 2104 movie, Left Behind, might take the prize. He plays an airline pilot who discovers some of his passengers missing. He eventually realizes he was “left behind” to endure hardships while believers — including his wife— got “raptured” to heaven.
The premise has some of Hollywood’s favorite plot elements: special effects disasters, disappearing people, and a weird mystery. But for millions, it’s not science fiction; it’s their hope for the end of time. Let’s look at this popular belief to learn what the Bible says will happen in the end.
A Widespread Belief
In a 2011 Pew study, 61% of Evangelical leaders said they believed in the Rapture, and 52% said it would either “probably” (44%) or “definitely” (8%) happen in their lifetimes. We need to recognize how widespread this belief is to take it as seriously as we should in our study.
A New Belief
The interpretation of the Rapture held by millions today has its roots in the late 17th century with American Puritan preachers Increase and Cotton Mathers. It gained traction in the early 20th century with John Darby’s premillennial comments in the Scofield Bible. But it caught fire in 1995 with the release of the Left Behind series of novels, which sold a staggering 80 million copies.
A Complicated Belief
Rapture theology is part of an extensive belief system called premillennialism. First, the doctrine says that the end will begin with signs of Jesus coming: wars, famine, natural disasters, and the rise of an antichrist. Then, premillennialists believe Jesus will secretly appear to rapture believers into heaven. Next comes a tribulation, seven years of disaster allowing the wicked to repent before Jesus returns yet again. After the tribulation, they say Jesus will return to establish an earthly kingdom on a throne in Jerusalem to reign for a thousand years. Finally, the “Great White Throne” judgment comes — a separate, final judgment for the wicked. So they believe in two separate returns, judgments, and resurrections — all separated by over 1,000 years.
An Unscriptural Belief
The name “Rapture” comes from the Latin verb rapio, which translates the word for “caught up” in the Latin Vulgate version of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Nothing wrong with that! But that’s not all people mean when they talk about the doctrine of the Rapture today. The Bible affirms an abrupt separation between the saved and the unsaved on the day Jesus returns (Matt. 24:40-42). But the popular doctrine of the Rapture adds to what the Bible says, making it fit the premillennial timeline. Premillennial rapture theology adds that:
- First comes an invisible, silent coming.
- Signs precede it.
- The judgment and resurrection of the saved and unsaved are split into two events separated by over a thousand years.
Does the Bible teach all that?
1. Secret Coming? The rapture doctrine teaches that no one will see or hear the Lord return, as he mysteriously calls believers up, and they disappear, leaving life to continue as on earth. However, the text from which the word “rapture” came contradicts the doctrine. “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thes. 4:16). Does this sound like a secret? When Jesus comes, everyone will know it.
2. Signed Coming? You can’t predict when Christ will come by watching the headlines and lining it up with a set of “signs.” Jesus does give signs to tell people when Jerusalem would fall in Matthew 24, and that’s where folks get confused, conflating that with signs of the Rapture (cf. Matt. 24:1-3). It’s understandable to get confused if you’re unfamiliar with the Old Testament prophets — the source of Jesus’ language in Matthew 24. Jesus says that the disciples can KNOW when Jerusalem will be destroyed by watching the signs (Matt. 24:33), and all of these things will happen before their generation passes away (Matt. 24:34). Then he says, “heaven and earth will pass away” (Matt. 24:35), but “concerning that day and hour no one knows” (Matt. 24:36). Scripture repeatedly insists we won’t know it’s coming, like a “thief in the night” (Matt. 24:42-44; 1 Thes. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10) — you won’t expect it, so stay ready!
It’s understandable to get confused if you’re unfamiliar with the Old Testament prophets — the source of Jesus’ language in Matthew 24.
3. Separate Comings? Will Jesus return once for the righteous and again for the wicked over 1,000 years later? Will there be two different judgments and resurrections?
Jesus describes the end as “the last day” (John 6:39, 40, 44, and 54), saying he’ll raise people and judge them on that “last day” (cf. John 11:23-24; 12:48). If the resurrection and the final judgment were separated by over a thousand years, you wouldn’t expect Jesus to call it “the last day.” Christ also calls it an “hour … when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29). The Lord declares that good and evil will rise in the same hour! He leaves no room for two separate resurrections.
No one will be left behind in the grave, and no one will escape that judgment. So “repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed” (Acts 17:30-31).